Legend of Spyro Mergence: Deception - Book 2
by wolfartist117
Summary: The Dark Master has been slain, his power stolen. Now the two dragons responsible for this have journeyed to the human realm in search of something that can be used to bring an ancient being back to life. Will Trent and his friends find them before it's too late, or will they find that fate has turned against them? Only time will tell as hidden truths are revealed and sides chosen
1. Reunion

**Alright now, before we begin, I just need to get something out of the way before I forget.**

**Disclaimer - I own NOTHING of the Spyro franchise. All rights belong to whoever the heck owns them (Activision?). I do, HOWEVER, own any characters I make and/or concepts that I add.**

**Now, before we begin, I would recommend that you read "Mergence (book 1)" if you haven't already, otherwise you might get a little lost... Anyway, let's begin The Legend of Spyro Mergence: Deception chapter one, everybody. Hope you enjoy. : )**

Landing on the ground, it felt as if I just done a belly flop into a pool.

"Can't I go through a portal once without falling?" I moaned in slight pain as I lifted my gaze to look at my surroundings.

_No way..._

I was back at my school, back in the same place where this whole thing had started. I looked up at the sky. It was about midday; sunny with clouds. Just like last time, I found myself wearing the same clothes that I had left with. At least now, unlike my previous visit, I wouldn't have to constantly wear the same thing every day. I'd done a lot of washing when staying with Scorch...

"Look out!"

Not even having a chance to react, I felt the owner of the voice land on top of me. Even though she wasn't heavy, it felt as if her small weight was trying to hold me down.

"You mind getting off, Ember?" I groaned as I tried getting up, not enjoying the extra weight.

Ember giggled apologetically. "Sorry about that, Haze."

"Geronimo!"

Once again, because I had no time to react, I was helpless as something heavy landed on Ember, adding to the weight and causing me to collapse again.

I merely looked forwards hopelessly._ I _had_ to go through the portal first..._

"Incoming!"

"Oh boy."

"Watch out!"

I lay pressed to the ground as I felt, one-by-one, Krystal, Cynder and Spyro land on top of each other...on top of me. I whimpered.

"Is everyone alright?" Spyro asked, looking down at everyone.

"Yeah," Cynder answered.

"I'm fine," answered Krystal as well.

Flame and Ember looked upwards. "Ditto."

"Guys..." I wheezed.

"Yeah, what's up?" asked Cynder.

"Crushing lungs...can't breathe..." I found myself barely able to speak.

As the weight on my back quickly reduced, I was able to turn onto my side. I moaned in relief, hands now pressing against my back.

"You okay?" Flame asked.

I felt my eye twitch. "Yeah, back's just broken."

I rolled over onto my stomach so I could look around once more.

"So where are we?" asked Cynder.

I looked at the black dragoness. "My neighborhood. Though, to be more specific, this is the spot where I was originally sent to the Dragon Realms."

"And who is that?" Flame asked with a pointed paw.

Facing in the direction of Flame's paw, I found myself looking at an old friend of mine. My eyes went wide in surprise. "Nick?"

Nick's eyes just scanned the dragons around me, looking as if he was trying to believe what he was seeing. After a moment, his gaze fell to me. "Trent... Where have you...?"

So surprised by what he was seeing, Nick found himself unable to finish his question. I looked at him understandingly. "Uhh, yeah... Long story."

Nick nodded his head very slowly, knowing that it probably was a long story. Though, for the most part, I could tell that he didn't even know what to think right now.

Getting myself up, I turned in the direction of my house before looking back at Nick. "Alright, honestly, I will answer any questions that you have, but first we should probably get to my house before..."

My gaze shifted to the left as people in the tennis courts began to stare at us—or rather, at the dragons. I watched as they each, one by one, starting pulling out their phones.

I sighed in disbelief. _Perfect. The one thing that I actually wanted to avoid_.

Not wasting any time, I grabbed Nick's arm. "Come on, we need to move."

Luckily, since Nick and I had been friends for so long, he trusted that I knew what I was doing and was okay with tagging along. He nodded.

I looked at Spyro and the others. "Come on, we need to get to my place as quickly as possible."

XXX

Luckily for us, my house wasn't even that far away, and because we ran, it took under a minute for us to get there.

After everyone stepped inside, I immediately shut and locked the door. I leaned against it, eventually sliding down until I was on the floor. Not even two minutes into my world with Spyro and the others, and already around fifteen people had seen us. The thought of it aggravated me.

"Trent, you alright?"

Gazing up, I found Nick with an expression of concern on his face. He knew I was thinking about the people who had just seen us.

I stood back up. "Yeah, fine, was just hoping that we wouldn't draw much attention." I sighed in disappointment. "And what about you?"

Nick smiled in relief. "Honestly, I'm just glad to find you alive after all this time. When I last saw you, you told me that you were headed home, but no one ever saw you again after that. You just...vanished."

I laughed slightly in response. 'Vanished' was an understatement. "That's one way to put it."

Nick crossed his arms as he looked at me curiously. "So...what happened?"

Once more, I leaned my back against the door. "Ignitus happened."

"What do you mean?"

"That day when I was walking home... Ignitus teleported me to the Dragon Realms. He told me that I was needed to help Spyro prevent the resurrection of the Dark Master."

Nick turned and took a quick glance at Spyro and the others. They were curiously exploring their new surroundings. He faced me once more. "Alright, then... So...should I assume that, because you're here along with them, that you succeeded?"

Lowering my head, I felt a wave of depression wash over me. "No, we actually failed to prevent his revival, but fortunately, not long after that, I was able to defeat him."

Not getting any response, I looked back up to find Nick in disbelief. "Alright, so you're telling me that you _single-handedly_ defeated Malefor, aka the Dark Master?"

"Well, I wasn't the only one who fought him, but in the end, yeah, I was the one who beat him," I remarked.

Nick merely raised a brow in response. I could tell that he was curious as to how I was able to beat Malefor. Though to be perfectly honest, if I had been in his position, I would have probably asked the same thing.

I scratched the back of my head. "It's a long story..." To be honest, I didn't even know where to begin.

Nick opened his mouth to speak.

"Hey, Haze!"

We both turned to Flame, who was looking out the living room window. "What are those things outside with the flashing red and blue colors?"

Quickly making my way over to the window, I looked out to find three or four cop cars in the driveway.

I looked at the cars nervously. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me..." Pulling away from the window, I threw my hands on top of my head. "For fuck's sake!"

"Who are they?" Spyro asked.

I looked at Spyro before sitting down on a nearby chair. "Police... People who help maintain the law."

"They're probably here because you're finally back," Nick reasoned.

Leaning forwards, I looked at my friend unconvinced. "Yeah, or they're here because fifteen people saw walking, talking dragons!" I fell back into the chair.

Nick held his hands up in question. "Maybe not."

"Trent Silver, this is the police. We just want to talk. We've received reports that you have brought some unknown animals into your house. We just want to confirm if they are dangerous or not."

I glared at Nick, pointing towards the window, proving my point. He looked away. "Or they could be here for the dragons..."

With a heavy sigh, I looked at the ceiling, trying to figure out what to do.

"Aren't you going to talk to them?"

I gazed over at Flame. "Can't."

"How come?" Ember asked.

Shifting my focus to Ember, frustration filled my mind. "What am I supposed to tell them? That the unknown animals I have in the house are dragons from another world who can control elements?"

I watched as Ember's face turned sad. "Look, I'm sorry, alright. I'm just frustrated that this happened, and I guarantee you that this won't end with a simple conversation."

"So what's the plan?" Nick asked.

Standing up, I found everyone except Cynder looking at me. "Can only think of one thing to do right now... Go out the back door and hope not to get caught."

Once more, I found my gaze drawn to Cynder. "Cynder, come on, we have to move."

"But there's someone out there talking to the police," Cynder replied.

Curious, I went over to the window to see who was there with the police. They had on a red sweatshirt and blue jeans.

_What's he doing here?_

XXX

The man grinned. "Officer, look, those things which people have been calling animals are nothing more than stuffed toys that I gave him to try and get his mind off it. Kid was kidnapped for over a month and he's just trying to cope with it. You being here is not going to make things any better."

The police officer looked at the man skeptically. "Can you promise us that he will talk within the next few days?"

The man nodded. "Not a problem. Just, all he needs right now is to forget about it."

The officer sighed hesitantly as he got into his car along with the others. "Well, if anything, thanks for helping him out."

The man grinned. "Anytime."

XXX

I watched as all the cop cars began to exit the driveway one-by-one and leave. Once they were all gone, the man in the red sweatshirt turned around and looked at us through the window, putting his hands into his jean pockets he walked to the front door. "It's alright, Trent, the baddy bad cops are gone."

I smiled in sheer amazement as I went to open the front door. "Do you have to make an entrance, Scorch?"

Walking past, Scorch looked at me, amused. "Hey, why the heck not?"

As he entered the living room, his gaze wandered to the creatures that stood in front of him. Like Nick, he had never seen Spyro and the others before. "Talk about a full house," Scorch commented before turning to Nick. "And you are?"

"I'm Nick."

Scorch looked over at Krystal. He'd never seen her before, either. "And you?"

"Krystal," the white and blue dragoness answered.

Scorch stared at the two for a moment before going over and sitting down on the living room couch. Like before, he didn't really seem to have a care in the world—well, aside from wanting to protect Avalar.

I made my way to the couch opposite of the one he sat on and sat down, eying him curiously. "Not that I object to you being here, but...why are you here?"

Scorch leaned forward. "I'm here to help you track down Archer and Reaper."

Nick approached the both of us with a puzzled face. "Archer and who?"

"Archer and Reaper, the two dragons who killed Malefor," Scorch answered.

Nick now looked at me, confused. "I thought you said you defeated the Dark Master?"

I gazed at Nick. "I said I defeated him, never said I killed him."

"Oh... Well... Then why did they kill him and then come here?" Nick asked.

I opened my mouth to speak, but Scorch beat me to it. "They didn't just kill the Dark Master, they stole his power."

Surprised by his response, I shifted my focus back to Scorch and gave him a curious look. "So, I'm guessing John told you?"

Scorch nodded as he leaned back on the couch and crossed his arms. "Yeah, he told me."

"So... Why would they steal his power?" Nick asked.

"You think it has to do that thing they were talking about? The thing that belonged to the Original as they called it?" I added.

Scorch looked down at the carpet beneath his feet. "From what John has told me, I can only conclude this... They said that, in order to revive the Ancient One, they need to get back what was taken from him, but they also took Malefor's power. It's like a toy that lost its battery and without it, it won't work."

I leaned forward anxiously, following his train of thought. "But the battery they're looking for must not have juice, hence why they stole Malefor's power."

"Because Malefor's power can energize the battery, which, in turn, can revive the Original," Nick finished.

Scorch only nodded in agreement.

"Sorry, but I've never heard of the Original before." The three of us turned our attention over to Spyro and the others, who were now standing around looking lost.

"I'm not at all surprised by that," Scorch replied.

Cynder stepped forward. "Why's that?"

Scorch simply turned away and looked out the window without giving a response. Flame scowled. "So, what, you're not going to tell us?"

Scorch didn't move at all. "There's nothing much to tell, and besides, it's not really something you would be glad to know about."

I had to admit that I was a little taken back by Scorch's statement, but then I remembered how John hadn't been overly excited to talk about it, either. I stared seriously at Scorch. "Alright, before I left back to Avalar, you told me that I would be able to ask questions later. So, tell me, who is the Original?"

Scorch closed his eyes before sighing deeply. It was obvious that he didn't want to talk about it but he knew we wouldn't let it go. Getting off the couch, he looked me straight in the eye. "You really want me to tell you? Fine, I'll tell you tomorrow."

With that irritated response, he left into the next room.

XXX Timelapse XXX

After Scorch left, it was pretty quiet over the course of the next two hours. Scorch stayed in the kitchen while the rest of us stayed in the play room, main room and so on, watching TV. During that time, Nick and I got most of our entertainment from Spyro and the others, who were mesmerized by the moving pictures on the screen. I laughed silently as they each tried talking to the characters who were on the screen, though the enjoyment soon ended when Spyro almost blasted the TV with fire after seeing the villain in one of the shows.

"So, there's nothing we can do to help them?" Ember asked.

I shook my head. "There's nobody to help. It's all acting; part of a story to entertain people."

Cynder frowned. "I don't see how people find another's suffering entertaining."

I scratched the back of my head, trying to figure out a response that wouldn't lead into an argument. "It's not so much for entertainment as it is for building tension and suspense, since, in the end, the good guy does usually win."

Krystal looked at me, puzzled. "Usually?"

"Yeah, depends on the story and what he or she is fighting for and what they have to lose. In some stories, the good guy wins but sacrifices their life to do so," I answered.

Krystal smiled, intrigued. "I get it. So it's like to keep people interested in the story, right?"

I smiled back. "Yeah, pretty much."

Not much later after we had been watching TV, Scorch ordered Pizza for dinner, saying it would be simpler than trying to cook everyone a meal, which surprised me since I never knew he could cook. Once more, Nick and I couldn't help but silently laugh as we watched the others try to eat their slices. I could only guess that Scorch forgot that Spyro and the others didn't have opposable thumbs. To my surprise, though, they eventually began to use the stems of their wings to lift the pizza slices to their mouths. Really had to give them credit for creativity.

Flame fell backwards, full. "Wow, for something that's not meat, that sure was good."

"Yeah, just wish that it didn't grease up my wings," Cynder complained as she rubbed her wings against the carpet floor.

Spyro looked at Scorch and me curiously. "So, should we start moving? To try and find Archer and Reaper?"

I also looked at Scorch, since I got the feeling he already had plan.

"There's not much we can do right now, so for tonight we'll rest here and head out in the morning. Since humanity is big with sharing news through media, it's only a matter of time before someone spots those two and begin talking about it," Scorch explained.

"So, basically, we're going to use the news channels to find out where they are and where they're going," I simplified.

Scorch took a sip of beer. "Exactly."

I stood up and stretched. "Well, if that's the case, then I'm going to get some sleep. Lord only knows how much we might be traveling around tomorrow."

Going up the stairs, I found Nick following behind me. "You want the spare mattress?" I asked.

"Do you even have to ask?"

My bed was actually two-in-one. There was the main bed, which was on top, and a second bed which could be pulled out from underneath.

XXX General POV XXX

Cynder watched as Nick entered Trent's room along with him. She turned to Ember and Krystal. "Don't know about you, but I'm also going to bed. Found another two beds upstairs; anyone want to come with?"

Ember stood up. "Yeah, I'm beat. Goodnight, Flame."

Flame looked at Ember and smiled. "Night, Ember."

Cynder leaned her head against Spyro's. "Night, Spyro," she said softly.

"Good night, Cyn," Spyro replied as he watched her start up the stairs.

Krystal followed as the two dragonesses went up the stairs. Once at the top, she stopped for a moment and looked over into Trent's room before turning back towards Cynder and Ember. They had walked down the hallway and entered the left room.

"You alright, Krystal?"

Turning around, she found Trent standing in the doorway. He looked tired.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine, just wanted to say goodnight," she quickly replied, feeling embarrassed.

Trent smiled. "Sweet dreams, Krystal," he said before going back into the room.

Hearing those words, Krystal felt her spirits lift as she turned and went down the hallway to join Cynder and Ember.

Flame yawned and followed it with stretch. "Well, I'm hitting the couch in the main room. You coming, Spyro?"

Spyro nodded as he too yawned. "Right behind you."

As Flame went off into the next room, Spyro shifted his gaze to Scorch. "You getting sleep too?"

Scorch grinned as he stared out the window at the night sky. "In a little bit. You go on ahead."

Trusting his word, Spyro shrugged before going to join Flame in the next room. After he left, Scorch took another sip of his beer. "Maybe if I'm lucky, they'll forget all about the Original..."

**Well, I have to say that I'm actually very happy with how this chapter turned out. The first chapter of this book actually ended up being longer than the first chapter of book 1. : D**

**Now I'm going to say right now that Deception will be shorter than book 1. As of now, I only plan to have about 8-9 chapters max. Though, considering how many characters I need to voice for...that itself might make each chapter pretty lengthy, but we'll see.**

**Few things before I go:**

**- In honest god, thanks Riverstyxx for beta(ing) **

**- PLZ Review X )**

**- Like in the previous book, you can check progress of future updates on my profile**

**- Am working to try and get a cover for Deception... hopefully it won't be as long this time...**


	2. Original Tale

**Hey, guys, really sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. Aside from delays because of college finals, I just found myself having a very difficult time getting the scenes into words. Have more to say but I'll leave that for the end. **

John's expression became uneasy and his gaze dropped to the ground. "Archer and Reaper have left for the human world."

Wide-eyed, I stared at John, frozen in shock. "They did what?!"

"How's that possible?" Ember asked.

For a moment, John gave no response. Finally, he said, "Apparently, it would appear that Reaper has the ability to create portals to other worlds, just like I can."

I stepped towards John; words could not even begin to describe my concern. "But why would they travel to Earth?"

"Because Reaper is looking to revive something that was sealed in Avalar long ago. He believes that the key to reviving it is somewhere on Earth," John explained.

"What was sealed?" I asked curiously.

John gave no response; instead, he lifted up one of his arms as a blue aura began flowing through it. I watched as the aura left his arm and formed an oval in the air.

"John, what was sealed?" I asked again, fiercely.

John turned his head slightly; he had a grim look on his face. "It was something that nearly destroyed Avalar centuries ago."

Suddenly feeling weak, my body gave out and I collapsed to the ground. A great pain surged through my left hind leg; I closed my eyes in response to the sudden feeling. As my breathing increased as well, I found myself completely out of breath.

"What's going on?" I questioned.

Eyes closed, I heard the sound of elements clashing against one another. I opened my eyes. The skies above me were filled with black and gray clouds. Turning around, I found Spyro and the others, as well as the temple students, fighting another group of dragons. They were fighting on what was now burnt and destroyed land, surrounded by dead bodies that could be ranged in the double digits.

Turning away from the scene, I rested my head on the dirt and sighed. I could only imagine the others telling me how I shouldn't give up but…there was nothing I could do. I had no energy left to move, let alone make use of my elements. Add that in with my now broken leg, and I was finished.

"Look out!"

Hearing the cry, I immediately lifted my head to find a huge ball of fire coming straight at me. My eyes widened as time slowed down and the ball of fire kept drawing closer. Knowing it was unavoidable; I closed my eyes and heard as the ball of fire struck the ground with a loud explosion. Agony once again surged through my body as the shockwave threw me into the air. Moments later, I felt water rushing over me. Slowly re-opening my eyes, I found myself belly up and sinking to the bottom of whatever lake I was in. The only thing I felt now was regret.

_Everyone, I'm sorry…_

Vision starting to fade, I began to close my eyes as I weakly looked up to find a black figure spinning towards me. As they spun, the water started to circle around them. Smiling weakly, I closed my eyes, accepting defeat. Within the next few moments, I felt two paws hug my stomach.

XXX

"GAH!"

Leaning forward, I breathed heavily as I brought my hands into view to find that they were shaking. I looked at the clock next to my bed. It was 5 AM. Wiping the sweat off my forehead, I proceeded to get out of bed, being careful not to wake Nick, who was sleeping on the floor below me. Exiting the room, I entered the bathroom on my right, turned on the light and looked in the mirror.

My whole face was covered in sweat. Turning on the faucet, I began to splash my face with cold water. After splashing it a few times, I looked back into the mirror.

"The hell was that about...?"

It had been at least a month since I'd last had that dream—or, should I say, nightmare. But even still, all the others were nothing compared to the one I'd had tonight. Ignitus had said it was a future I had to prevent, but since I had defeated Malefor, wouldn't that make the dream change?

Backing up from the sink, I leaned on the wall behind me.

I shook my head. "Unless the dream had nothing to do with Malefor in the first place, but was referring to something else... I don't know."

Giving a heavy sigh, I felt lost. I knew that the dream was depicting a losing battle, one where Spyro and the others, along with myself, were fighting another group of dragons. But the question that remained was: who were the dragons we were fighting against, and why? And in the end, would I really...?

I shook my head as I tried to get the last part of the dream out of my mind.

"_You're not the only one who's worried about it,"_ X said.

He was right, and I honestly couldn't blame him for worrying, either. If something happened to me, X would share my fate.

Turning off the light, I exited the bathroom and headed downstairs. I had to get my mind off the dream. Stepping foot on the ground floor, I peered into the entertainment room to find Spyro and Flame sleeping on the floor, their heads on pillows.

Turning away, I walked across the living room to find Scorch sleeping on one of the couches with his arms crossed. I snickered at the sight. Even when asleep, Scorch maintained a look of seriousness. I guess serious was just what he was.

Moving on, I made my way past the kitchen and entered a room on the right. It was a small room, but it was where I had usually spent my free time. In the top right-hand corner was a desk which held a desktop computer and my laptop. To the left of the laptop was my PS3, followed by the Wii and, on the opposite side, an Xbox slim.

I grinned and looked to the flat-screen TV to my left; it had been a while since I last played a competitive online game. Honestly, it was just the thing that I needed right then.

After turning on the TV and Xbox, I turned to my stack of games and began to think, "So which one will it be?"

My gaze fell upon Gears of War 3.

XXX 1 hour later XXX

"ARE YOU GODDAMN KIDDING ME!"

Dropping the controller on the desk, I looked at the scoreboard in annoyance and sighed. "These people really don't know how to play, do they?"

Suddenly, the door to the room busted open. Turning around, I found Spyro and Flame panicking.

"We heard screaming, you okay?!" Spyro asked.

I chuckled in response. Whenever I played multiplayer games, I tended to get competitive. Even in the past, my parents said that I sounded like a maniac whenever I played, though I can't say they were exactly wrong.

Flame looked at me with a puzzled face. "Uh, you okay, Haze?"

I looked at the red dragon with a reassuring grin. "Yeah, fine, just thinking about something from a while back."

Spyro jumped up on the couch, as did Flame. "So, what are you doing?" Spyro asked.

Sighing, I looked at the TV. "Playing a game, and honestly, my teammates stink."

"That sounds a bit harsh, don't you think?" Spyro questioned.

I sighed once more. "Yeah, well, if they followed the basics of the game then I wouldn't need to say that."

"So what game are you even playing?" Flame asked curiously.

I grinned. "CTL, also known as Capture The Leader. It's a game where you have to take the enemy team leader hostage for thirty seconds in order to win. At the same time you want to keep your leader safe. It's kind of addicting, actually."

"And yet you're cursing and screaming…" Flame remarked.

I chuckled. "Yeah, well, like I said before, when people don't follow the premise of the game, causing you to lose…it's reasonable to get frustrated."

"Frustrated to the point where you have to curse at the top of your lungs?"

We all turned to find Scorch yawning in the doorway, looking half asleep. "Honestly, if I knew you were like this when gaming, I would have slept upstairs."

I gave him an apologetic look as I scratched the back of my head. "Sorry…"

Scorch turned his head, not even bothered. "Eh, don't worry about it, been up for a half hour anyway, just meant in general." Taking a quick glance at his watch, Scorch turned around before walking towards the kitchen and out of sight. "Don't know about the rest of you, but I'm going to get some breakfast, because as soon as we hear anything, we're moving out."

Flame jumped off the couch and neared the door. "What about Ember, Cynder, and Krystal?" he called out.

"If you want your girlfriends to eat, then go and wake them," Scorch replied.

I watched as the red dragon looked down at the ground, embarrassed. Not able to find a response, Flame quickly bolted out of the room, probably to head upstairs.

Spyro looked at me in question. "Is he always like this?"

I looked at him sympathetically. "Yeah… Scorch has always been pretty blunt…but he means well."

"I see," Spyro said, lowering his head, thinking about my words.

I watched as the purple dragon turned his gaze to the side. He was hesitant about something.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Your parents are in this world, right?"

Surprised by his question, I leaned back in my chair. "Yeah… What about them?"

Spyro lifted his gaze; there was concern in his eyes, as well as confusion. "Well, according to Nick, it's been at least a month since you disappeared. Your parents don't even know that you're alive, correct? Shouldn't you try and contact them?"

I turned away. "I-I can't."

Spyro hopped off the couch and approached my front. "Why not?"

I sighed. "Look, it's not that I don't want to—I mean, you have to believe me. When I was at Scorch's place, the idea of calling my parents never left my mind, but…what am I supposed to tell them? That I can't go back to being with them right now because I'm busy trying to fight off dark forces?"

Frustrated, I lowered my head into my hands. "Look, I'm sorry, alright, but until this is over I think it's best to avoid contact with them."

To my surprise, I felt a paw placed on my knee. Taking away my hands, I found Spyro with an understanding expression on his face. "Don't worry about it. I was just worried that you might have forgotten about them."

"Never," I told him softly but seriously. "Not since I went to Avalar."

Spyro withdrew his paw. "Well, that's good."

I watched as the purple dragon neared the door before turning around to face me once more. "So, what is there to eat around here?"

That was honestly a very good question. Like Spyro, I wondered as well. "No idea, actually, haven't been here in over a month, so it should be interesting to see what's here."

Now wanting something to eat, we both exited the room and went into the kitchen, which was smelling strangely of toast. Gazing into the next room on my left, I found Scorch and the others eating in the dining room and, guess what, they were all eating toast.

_I guess that's one way to feed eight mouths fast…_

Looking at the table, I noticed two untouched plates of toast—just one slice each.

Getting out of his chair, Scorch looked at me as he began moving around the table. "I know it's not much but we'll get more to eat later, and besides, we finally got a sighting on them."

I felt myself getting anxious. "Where are they?"

"They were last seen in Boston, so hurry up. We leave in ten minutes," Scorch answered before leaving the room.

As Scorch left so did Nick, and I wondered if Nick had any intentions of coming with us. After all, it wasn't like he was obligated to join us or anything. Well, either way, I supposed I would find out soon enough.

Sitting down at the table, I stared at the single piece of buttered bread. This honestly was not breakfast, but for now it would have to do.

"So how did you girls sleep last night?" I asked, finishing the slice in a few bites.

"Think we all slept pretty well," Cynder glared at Flame, "until you woke us up…"

I couldn't help but snicker at the expression she gave Flame.

"Hey, I was only thinking of you guys!" Flame protested.

"Be grateful that he did, otherwise we may not have gotten anything to eat this morning," Krystal said, defending Flame.

Cynder turned to Krystal with a playful grin. "Yeah, I know, was just teasing."

"Hey, Trent."

Hearing my name, I turned my focus to Spyro, who simply looked at me in question. "Yeah, what's up?"

"So, where is Boston and how far away is it?" the purple dragon asked.

Hearing that, I leaned back in my chair and sighed. "You are honestly asking the wrong person."

After ten minutes of idle chatting, the others and I went into the living room. Taking a quick glance out the window, I found a large red truck parked in the driveway, and then turning back to the room, I found five empty opened suitcases by the front door.

_Why would we bring empty suitcases?_

My train of thought was interrupted as I heard someone coming down the stairs. Looking up, I found Nick coming down with two more large bags.

"What's the matter?" Nick asked.

I gestured to the empty suitcases. "What are these for?"

Nick stopped dead in his tracks and sighed. "That, I cannot tell you"

"Why not?" I asked, not sure whether to feel uneasy or not because of his tone.

"Because not even I know," Nick answered before quickly hurrying out the door.

Looking out the front door window, I curiously watched Nick approach the truck for a moment before turning back to the suitcases.

_Scorch, what are you up to…?_

Once again, my train of thought was interrupted as the door opened again and Scorch came through. He began picking up all the suitcases.

"Scorch."

"Yeah?"

"What's with the suitcases?" I asked.

Scorch turned to me and grinned. "Would rather not spoil the surprise."

From just hearing that, I started to feel uneasy.

_Knowing you, Scorch, I can already tell that you're up to something, I'm just unsure whether to be scared of it or not._

With the suitcases in hand, Scorch kicked the front door open and held it as he looked back at us. "Well, come on, we don't have all day."

Feeling there was nothing more to do there, Spyro and the others followed Scorch's instructions and left the house. Taken aback by his statement, I couldn't help but stay where I was.

"What, that's it? No packing, no anything?" I questioned honestly.

Scorch looked at me with reassuring grin. "What, you didn't see Nick carrying those two extra bags? Don't worry, I got everything handled."

Giving a deep sigh, I walked past Scorch, allowing him to close the door. Shifting my gaze upon the truck, I saw Spyro and the others leaping into the back section of the vehicle.

"Alright, let's get this show on the road."

Turning back around, I watched as Scorch hurried past me to the truck, tossing the luggage bags through the open doors and onto the seats. Moving over to the front of the truck, he stepped into the driver's seat and started it up before turning towards me. "You coming or what?"

Lowering my head, I sighed as I went over and stepped into the vehicle with Spyro and the others, who were now looking out the windows.

"Should be interesting to see what's in the world," Spyro said.

_Let's just hope that the world doesn't notice you._

As the truck pulled out of the driveway, I took one last glance at my house. I had a feeling that it was going to be a while before we saw it again.

XXX

Over the two hours that passed on the way to Boston, it was fairly quiet. The only sounds came from Spyro and the others, who consistently looked curiously out at the human world through the windows.

Whenever something new came into view, one of them would alert the others. "Hey, guys, look at this!" one would say, which would make them all rush over in a single direction. I couldn't help but grin at their enthusiasm; I always loved seeing others enjoy themselves, even it was because of something little like this. Heck, give me a role of duck tape and I'd be occupied for an hour.

Though, I noticed that whenever we passed by multiple buildings, Spyro also stared intently at them. I figured that they may have reminded him of Warfang. That isn't to say, though, that Spyro didn't enjoy the other views. In fact, like the others, every time we passed through an area that had a nice wide open view, like a lake, I found him smiling widely. One could surmise that they really wanted to go and fly over the area and have a look around.

Then, finally, after what seemed like forever, Scorch pulled into a parking lot that was next to one of the many tall buildings that surrounded us and turned off the truck. He eyed the closest building in front of us.

"So… Even though I've never been to Boston before, I'm going to take a guess that, because we're parked, that means we're here?" I asked bluntly.

Scorch continued to eye the building. "Yup, and that's where we will be staying for now." He pointed to the building.

Nick turned to Scorch and stared as if he'd lost it. "Uh, you do realize that the _Harbor_ is like a five-star hotel, right?"

Leaning back in his seat, Scorch crossed his arms and looked at Nick. "Your point?"

Nick quickly glanced at the hotel, then to Spyro and the others, then back to Scorch. "My point is: how are we going to sneak five dragons into a hotel?"

Scorch merely grinned before looking back towards me. "Well, we have empty suitcases, do we not?"

My eyes went wide; I knew what he was thinking.

_Well, Scorch…I definitely give you points for creativity…_

XXX

Stepping out of the truck, I turned around and carefully pulled out two suitcases, which were now heavy. I gently placed them on the ground side by side.

"I don't like this plan…" complained a muffled Flame from inside the right suitcase.

I looked to my left to find Scorch carrying his two suitcases; one had Spyro, and in the other was Krystal. Behind him was Nick, who carried the two bags and one suitcase. Ember was inside.

Scorch had an amused grin on his face. "No one said you had to like it, just be part of it."

"Yeah, this feels humiliating…" muttered Cynder from the other suitcase.

Scorch couldn't help but silently laugh to himself after hearing that. "Alright, let's go."

Grabbing the handles, I slowly angled the suitcases until they leaned on one side, allowing me to roll them behind me. Once that was accomplished, I started to follow Scorch with Nick not far behind. I felt badly for him; he carried more than all of us.

Entering the hotel, I couldn't help but partially drop my mouth in awe at what I saw. The lobby floor was made of square tiles with fancy designs and there were shiny square pillars that connected the ceiling and the floor. On the ceiling were many skylights that had brown strips running through them; because of them, the lobby seemed very bright. I squinted my eyes as we approached the front desk.

The receptionist was a lady looking to be around her forties, possibly.

"Hello and welcome to the _Harbor_hotel, what can I do for you?" she politely asked.

Scorch let go of his suitcases, leaving them in an upright position, and leaned on the desk.

"Afternoon. I would like a top suite for my friends and I. For now we'll be staying about a week," Scorch answered.

The receptionist gave a surprised expression before looking at her computer. "That'll be four thousand dollars."

Without hesitation, Scorch reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He then pulled out a card and gave it to the lady. "This should easily cover it."

Sighing, the receptionist took the card without question. I shot a surprised look at Scorch; his lack of reaction towards the price stunned me.

_What do you do for a living that you have no reaction to the price?_

"..._choo!_"

I froze and looked down to my right at Flame's suitcase.

"Did your suitcase just sneeze?"

I looked back up to find that the receptionist was now staring at me and opened my mouth to speak.

"Yeah, it's called excess space in luggage that hasn't been taken up. Makes a sound when forced through a tiny hole," Scorch quickly but calmly answered.

For a moment there was nothing but silence. The lady receptionist looked at Scorch as if she was unconvinced. To prove his point, Scorch kicked the suitcase which Flame was in, making it fall over. Once again, the same sound came out of the suitcase. I couldn't help but feel amused. Flame was going to kill Scorch for that.

Scorch continued to look expressionless. "Now, can we please be checked into our room?"

Looking abashed now, the receptionist quickly swiped Scorch's card and gave it back to him, along with a key. "My apologies, sir, enjoy your stay."

Scorch just grinned as he took back his card and accepted the key. "Will do."

Having his card back, Scorch proceeded to the elevator. Picking up Flame's suitcase, I quickly followed him. Once inside, he pressed the button that said "10" and the doors shut. Elevator music started playing.

"Can we come out now?" Spyro asked from inside his bag.

Scorch merely continued to stare at the closed elevator doors. "Not yet, we need to get to our room first."

"You know… I can't help but feel that you enjoyed kicking Flame's suitcase," Nick remarked

Scorch grinned as he started laughing quietly to himself.

"Wait, that was you?!" Flame demanded.

"Hey, it worked, didn't it?" Scorch replied dryly.

Closing my eyes, I couldn't help but let out a small laugh.

"I hate you all…" Flame complained.

_Well, Scorch is right, it did work._

"Flame, stop complaining!" Ember hissed.

The elevator dinged, we had reached the designated floor. Doors opening, they revealed two girls on the other side.

"Well how—ow!" Flame cried as he was dealt another blow to his side.

"What was that?" asked one of the girls.

Scorch tilted his head to the side, acting confused. "What was what?"

Both girls just stood there. When there was no reply, Scorch walked past with a simple "excuse us" and left it at that.

Nick and I looked at each other. "I can only imagine him playing poker," Nick remarked.

Laughing softly, I nodded my head and mouthed, "Yeah."

XXX

To my surprise, our room was not far away from the elevator; it was actually only eight rooms down. Upon entering, though, I found myself impressed and whistled to show it. I'd never been in a five-star hotel before, and honestly, I could see why it was five-star. The room looked like it belonged to some royal couple. The living room had three sofas that surrounded a large flat-screen TV. To the right of that was the kitchen that had a counter you could sit at, and to the left of the TV was a balcony that you could walk out on. There were also four queen-sized beds to the right of the kitchen, next to the bathroom.

Soon as he saw the sofa, Scorch let go of the suitcases and jumped over onto the couch. "You guys can come out now."

One by one, I watched as Spyro and the others began bursting from their bags. Having been cramped for nearly twenty minutes, they all stretched themselves out. After having done that, they each began to explore their temporary new home. Well, all except for Flame, who walked around to Scorch's front.

Noticing, Scorch shifted his gaze to the red dragon in question. "What?"

Flame gave him a disbelieving look. "You said you would explain today who the Original was."

Upon hearing that name, everyone, including myself, turned in Scorch's direction. Scorch looked around, finding all eyes on him. He sighed and sat up.

"I was honestly hoping that you'd have forgotten about that," Scorch muttered.

Jumping up on one of the couches, Cynder gazed curiously at him. "Why, what's so bad about the Original that you don't want to tell us?"

"I'm with Cynder, why are you so hesitant about telling us?" Spyro asked, sitting down by the black dragoness.

Feeling that Scorch was going to give, Nick and I sat on the sofa left of Scorch, and we all waited for him to speak.

Scorch sighed, defeated. He had given his word. "Alright, fine, I'll tell you. Keep in mind, though, that this is coming from my mother, who got it from her mother. You see, long ago, before the first guardians had formed, there was a creature that came to Avalar. This creature was a dragon, and just like the other dragons in Avalar, it was able to control elements. However, this dragon was different in the fact that it didn't control just one element…it was able to control all eight. Because of this, many considered this dragon to be the Original dragon, since no other dragon had been able to do this before."

"Now, for a time this dragon and the rest of the other dragons lived in harmony with each other. Then, after a while, things began to change. Little by little, the dragon started becoming corrupt, eventually becoming aggressive towards others and lashing out. Now, the others knew that this dragon was powerful beyond imagination, and they began to fear for the safety of Avalar. So, to prevent a disaster before it could happen, Avalar recruited eight of its most powerful dragon warriors to combat this dragon. The leader of these eight dragons was a fire dragon known as Inferno, my great grandfather."

"These eight fought the Original alongside their sons and daughters, who were considered equally as powerful. For an entire day their fight lasted, and in the end the Original was defeated by Inferno's son, Pyro, also known as the original Fire Guardian and founder of the Guardians. Though, sadly, their victory did not come without a price. Inferno and five others sacrificed their lives in order to defeat the Original. But it was because of their sacrifice that Pyro and the others managed to seal away the Original in a deep slumber."

Everyone became silent, but after a few moments, Ember stood up.

"But wait, if the Original was sealed, then how can it be brought back to life?" she asked.

Scorch turned to Ember. "When the original Guardians sealed away the Original, they took a gem that was a part of the dragon and trapped its soul in it. Its body turned to stone as a result."

"But wait… If that's the case, then how did it wind up on Earth?" I asked.

Scorch shook his head. "I'm not sure. As I said before, I heard this from my mother, who heard it from her mother. So, chances are, there are still pieces of information which have either been forgotten or silenced for the sake of sanity."

"Hey, Scorch, you said that Inferno was your great grandfather, right?" Spyro questioned. "Well, if John was your grandfather, then who was your grandmother?"

Scorch turned to the purple dragon. "My grandmother was a wind dragoness known as Spirit. Daughter of Inferno, sister of Pyro, mate of John, and original Wind Guardian."

**Alright, considering how much frustration I had writing this chapter…I have to say I like how it came out overall (though there are parts which I feel are done more well than others). Now, at the top I said that part of why this chapter took so long was because I had difficulty expressing some of the scenes. Well, there is more to it than just that (excluding college, since that's been done for over a month now). Truth is, with this chapter done, I find myself frustrated for not having much material thought out for the next two chapters…and it's because of this frustration that I found myself not wanting to complete this chapter, even though I had the rest of the scenes thought out. **

**So as much as I hate to say it, I have writer's block (which is really ridiculous considering that, after the next two chapters, I LITERALLY have the rest of the book planned out). So yeah, as for when I get started on the next two chapters, I have no idea (maybe I just do a lot of fluff, who knows…). Terribly sorry, guys, right now I feel ashamed since I've never had writer's block before. X (**

**Last few things before I go:**

**1 – River without you beta(ing), my story would probably look terrible right now, so thank you. xD**

**2 – Any updates regarding progress of future chapters will be posted on my profile.**

**3 – If anyone wants to suggest scenes that they would like to see, feel free to PM (will give you credit for the scene)**


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